Butter or margarine pat



May 31, 1966 L. PETERS BUTTER OR MARGARINE PAT Filed July 17, 1964 INVENTOR. LEO PETERS firm/51m, Oak 5 g? ATTIYS United States Patent 3,253,929 BUTTER 0R MARGARINE PAT Leo Peters, 750 Plymouth Road SE., Grand Rapids 6, Mich. Filed July 17, 1964, Ser. No. 383,476 2 Claims. (Ql. 99-179) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applications, Serial No. 185,901, filed April 9, 1962, now abandoned, and Serial No. 266,591, filed March 20, 1963.

This invention relates to improvements in the molding and packaging of soft .plastic materials. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and package for molding, carrying and dispensing soft plastic foods, which are formed in a plurality of individual service units, known as patties, and in which each of said units may be provided with surface ornamentation of various types.

In my prior Patent No. 2,631,939, I taught a method and package particularly adaptable for use in molding, carrying, and dispensing soft plastic foods, such as butter, formed into a single, relatively large service unit provided with surface ornamentations of various types. The present invention is specifically directed to certain improvements in the method and packaging taught in my prior patent and, more particularly, to those improvements which are essential for the commercial production of a plurality of relatively small individual service units, hereinafter referred to for convenience as patties, as well as to those improvements which are uniquely related to the forming and packaging of aerated products such as whipped butter.

An example of the elements designated by the term patties are the butter patties normally served in diningrooms and restaurants. The size of such patties range from about A of an inch to of an inch in thickness, and from /1 of an inch to 1 /2 inches in squares or rectangles, and vary in weight accordingly so that from 40 to 150 of such patties may be required per pound of butter supplied. In general, the weight of a patty may range from about 0.1 ounce to about 0.3 ounce, depending on size, degree of air inclusion, etc. I

The invention herein is directed toward plastic materials, including certain kinds of soft plastic foods, and will be described in regard to soft plastic foods; any plastic material having the essential characteristics of such soft plastic foods are also to be understood as being.

within the purview of this invention.

More particularly, the term soft plastic foods is intended to include such foods as butter, margarine, ice cream, sherbet, processed cheese and cheese foods, and other foods of similar physical properties. Characteristic of such foods is a body which, while firm enough to be shape-maintaining at temperatures of normal use, is, at the same time, sufficiently soft and plastic to be easily deformed by handling. Another characteristic of such foods is that they are flowable at temperatures which do not impair the quality of the foods, while they become non-flowable upon being cooled to the temperatures at which they are normally used. Further, the soft plastic foods with which this invention is particularly concerned are those whose cohesive strength is at least equal to their adhesive strength at temperatures of normal usage under the conditions of use contemplated herein.

In describing this invention, it is believed desirable to relate its usefulness to the particular problems involved in regard to the exemplary problem which arises when whipped butter is made in individual service-size units or patties, having embossed, surface-ornamented designs.

The dining-room and restaurant trade have recognized the value of whipped butter because, in comparison with unwhipped butter, it (1) spreads easier when cold; (2) provides maximum flavor with minimum fat; (3) does not run off hot vegetables; (4) keeps pancakes vfiuify and wafiles crisp because it does not soak into these foods; and (5) provides a lower cost on an equal volume basis.

However, this trade must have such whipped butter in pre-shaped patty form and packaged so that it is convenient for serving. Such patties must be attractively formed, preferably embossed with an attractive design, and packaged in a manner which protects the design and the patties during the hazards of transportation and storage, while permitting easy and quick use without distortion of said ornamental design.

Present day techniques and methods for making patties revolve about the use of butter which is not whipped and which must be cold and hard at the time of being formed. This means that the shaping or impressing of designs on patties must be done by dies under relatively high pressures in order to compress the cold butter into the desired ornamented shape. Such forming techniques are quite limited in effectiveness. The problem of the butter sticking to the dies is so prevalent that in some instances the dies are heated to soften the butter to prevent its adhering to the dies. This, of course, reduces the ability of the butter to retain sharply delineated surface designs, and is a decided factor in limiting the range and types of ornamentation that can be provided.

In some cases, divided dies are used in order to provide a greater variety of shapes and designs; but such dies must be equipped with blow holes for air relief, and be hand-operated or, at best, batch operated. Indeed, the problems of keeping such dies clean and free of clinging butter, of increasing speed of production, reducing molding Waste, and producing sharply-defined designs are so great that for practical, everyday sale purposes they are non-commercial. This has resulted in todays butter patties being, for the most part, if not entirely, of a simple, straight-edged, flat-sided, nesting shape, with surface designs that are limited to engraved (pressed in) impressions. Present-day methods cannot commercially produce and market patties that have non-nesting (rounded corners and surfaces) shapes and/0r embossed (up-raised) surface designs.

Adapting presently known techniques of forming butter patties into ornamented shapes is rendered even more difficult when applied to the field of whipped butter. First, when whipped butter is subjected to the high pressures necessary for the die formation of ornamented designs, there is a loss of air from the whipped butter which makes accurate weight and volume control for practical purposes, impossible. Secondly, when the pressure die techniques re-compress air-expanded butter, such butter deepens in color at the points of re-con-centration, resulting in an unsightly, mottled effect due to the uneven pressures applied across the surface. This destroys uniform appearance, and to that extent renders the product less salable and less appetizing.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a new method and means for molding soft plastic ma terials, such as whipped butter, into surface-ornamented patty shapes, without the use of relatively high pressure dies and in a manner which preserves the initial appetite appeal, density, and appearance characteristics.

Presently, butter patties and similar plastic materials are being transported in packages utilizing a plurality of layers stored on top of each other, each layer comprising a planar surface scored to permit breaking of the individual units. Such packaging can result in abrasive action between adjacent layers. Therefore, such materials have been formed only in nesting shapes so as to eliminate the abrasion.

materials of larger size and less delicate surface defini-.

tions.

Thus, in making the transition from the packaging and shipment of nesting shapes to non-nesting shapes, from engraved (depressed) to embossed (raised) surface designs, an entirely different packaging technique is required, one which reduces or eliminates the weight-bearing factor and the abrasive action as between vertically or horizontally adjacent units. By eliminating the weightbearing factors and the abrasive action between adjacent units or patties, a much wider range of surface ornamentation is made possible, as well as assuring that the patties will be delivered intact with a minimum of breakage and distortion.

The dispensing of butter patties is presently adapted to the use of scored patties which either are not individually cut apart, or so thinly cut apart that they must be broken apart and separated along the score lines to be accessible for serving. This requires thoroughly cold and hard butter to facilitate the breaking and separating action, and if the butter is soft, it will not break or separate cleanly. However, it is well known that a relatively soft butter is more desirable from the standpoint of spreading. Thus, the requirements for dispensing and those for use are in direct conflict and uncompromising. Also, particularly with inexperienced personnel, even when the patties are cold and hard, they frequently will not break apart cleanly at the score lines but rather will.

produce a jagged, irregular patty which is somewhat unappetizing when served. Usually the patties are broken apart by hand, which practice is both unsanitary and unsightly, or with forks and knives, which practice is awkward and further tends to destroy the symmetry of the patty. v

In addition to solving each of the aforementioned problems individually, it is a further object of this invention to provide a single packaging unit which serves the triple function of: (1) providing a means for forming a plurality of patties with a wide variety of surface ornamentations while overcoming the limitations previously imposed by pressure formation; (2) serving as a protective carrying package for the patties as they are chilled on the production line, moved about within the plant, or transported through the channels of trade, by reducing or eliminating the abrasive action and substantially all weight bearing between the patties; and (3) enabling ejection of the patties from the package either at the point of manufacture or at point of consumption with shape and surface definitions intact and without the butter coming in contact with human hands.

Other advantages and objects of this invention will become apparent from an examination of the more particular description and from the drawings, in which-.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention, featuring a patty-forming sheet equipped with an embossed design;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a patty after the same has been formed in and ejected from one of the pockets in the film of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of apparatus illustrating the patty ejection step of the invention.

The patty sheet 10, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a generally rectangular sheet of film equipped with a plurality of patty-forming pockets. 11. The film may be transparent, which is desired in order to more effectively monitor the material contained within it. The film is advantageously thin, having a thickness ranging from about 0.002 inch to about 0.005 inch. While many thermoplastic films are generally quite satisfactory for use, films such as unplasticized polyvinyl chloride, which demonstrate relatively high flexibility and at the same time possess suflicient stiffness to be entirely shape-maintaining under the weight of the plastic material, have been found especially useful in the practice of the invention. The films previously described in my Patent No. 2,631,939 may also be used for the present invention.

The film 10 is provided with a plurality of pockets, shown generally at 11, which, as illustrated, are arranged in a plurality of rows, each pocket preferably, but not necessarily, being of identical shape and extending outwardly in the same direction with reference to the planar surface of. the film. These pockets may be formed in the film sheet by conventional methods, including the application of suction to the outside of a heated thermoplastic film, causing it to be drawn down into a tubular support against a cold female die member. Any nonsmooth surface ornamentation or figuring (i.e., embossing) canv be impressed on the pocket in this manner. The illustration features a fleur-de-lis which can be a pleasing adjunct to a meal. The pockets are separated or spaced from each other by planar film portions 12.

Apparatus suitable for the development of the pocketequipped film or web 10 can be seen in the copending application of Peters and Burke, Serial No. 308,785, filed September 13, 1963. ing a heated thermoplastic web is advantageously equipped with the planar intermediate portions 12 as well as a perimetric planar edge of flange portion 13. In the illustration given, the intervening planar portions 12 may have a width of the order of to /8, while the perimetric flange 13 has a Width of the order of A" to /2. Each pocket is developed to provide a patty of the character seen in FIG. 2, wherein the patty is designated generally by the numeral 14. Optimally, from the standpoint of public acceptance, the patty 14 is generally square in plan, having substantially identical upstanding sides as .at 15. Each side is advantageously vertical and the embossed top 16 carries the alreadyreferred-to embossed (i.e., raised or has-relief) fleur-delis design over at least about 50% of the otherwise planar surface. length, and is advantageously rounded at the extremities thereof as at 17, with the rounding or curvature being of the order of A The character of the sides, in combination withthe embossed upper surface 16, has been found advantageous in eliminating wrinkling of the soft plasticmaterial, i.e., butter, olemargarine, etc., contained therein. It will be appreciated that the impression developed on the. consumer by virtue of a delightful ornamentation on the top surface 16 can be lost or at least substantially minimized if the side walls 15 do not tend to reinforce and concentrate the attention of the'consumer on'the more ornamental portions. 1

As previously discussed, while my prior Patent No. 2,631,939 solved certain problems in regard to molding, packaging, and dispensing relatively large .units of soft plastic materials, the problems involved in molding, packripheral supports around each of the molds. While thisv would be commercially feasible for relatively large units such as one-quarter pound units, the expense would render such teachings impractical for the plurality of small, individual, service-size units of the instant invention. Fun

The film 10 resulting from draw- Each side 15 is flat over the majority of its ther, such peripheral supports would not necessarily solve the packaging problems involved with small uni-ts, and would obstruct quick and easy removal of the product contained in the encircled molds in a manner compatible with the time and motion requirements of plant, rest-aurant, or dining-room operations.

In teaching the use of peripherally-supported molds which also act to prevent misshaping of adjacent units due to contact between them, my prior patent does not envisage a method of packaging which would eliminate the use of such peripheral supports and yet provide such freedom from misshaping and destruction by other means which would further permit quick and simple dispensing at the point of use.

Indeed, this invention not only teaches a method and apparatus for overcoming the molding difficulties, but in combining the molding device with carrying or other supporting means, which is also capable of permitting facile dispensation, a number of the basic problems are solved simultaneously during subsequent handling operations.

According to the above-mentioned Peters and Burke application, the soft plastic material, such as whipped butter, is heated or otherwise treated until it becomes fluid. The patty sheets are then placed on an appropriate supporting structure which permits the pockets 11 to extend downwardly, the open side of the pocket cavity then being exposed upwardly. It is seen that the spacing between the pockets 11 permits a support means to be used adjacent each individual pocket so as to provide support without distorting the mold shape. A filling or fluid butter-dispensing apparatus is then used having a plurality of nozzles corresponding in number and position to the pockets 11 in the patty sheets 10. The filling apparatus is positioned over the advancing Web 10 and a precise amount of the fluid deposited into each of the pockets, to a level substantially parallel with that of the plane of the patty sheet 10. The fluid is then advantageously joggled and cooled in each of the pockets 11, the resulting cooled product thus firmed assuming the configuration and ornamentation of each of the mold pockets 11.

It is at this point that the critical limitations upon the nature of the soft plastic material come into play, for in the plasic, pasty, or solid state which is achieved by the cooling of the material within the pockets, the material must have suflicient adhesive qualities to stick to the walls of the pocket, while having sufficient cohesive strength that when the sheet is suspended vertically, or even transported upside down, it will retain its position within the mold pocket 11 undisturbed. Thus, the adhesive strength is able to adhere the particular weight of the patty to the given area of the pocket wall. That is the reason that one of the preferred embodiments of this invention teaches the use of a non-smooth or ornamented pocket. By increasing the exposed surface area of the pocket wall, not only is a more pleasant appearance imparted to the patty but also a greater surface area is exposed to the patty to increase the adhesive forces between the patty and the pocket wall, to augment further the retention when the patty sheet 10 is moved into a vertical or upside down position. Further, the-cohesive strength of the material at its cooled temperature must be at least equal and preferably greater than its adhesive strength, so that when the patty is dispensed by reversing the pocket, the mate-rial will release cleanly from the pocket without any surface marring, distortion, or fragmentation of the patty.

Then the patty sheet 10 may be raised to a vertical position and the material firmly retained within each pocket for prolonged periods of time. Because of the spacing between the pockets, and the fact that the weight of the sheet is to be borne by the perimetric edge 13, it is to be particularly noted that there is no weight bear ing as between vertically or horizontally adjacent patties.

trude upwardly and thus show the ornamented shape of the contents to the operator for inspection. As shown in FIG. 3, a diaphragm .18 exerts downward pressure simultaneously on each upstanding pocket 11 to eject the patty 14 into a plate 19 supported Within the tray 17. Such a plate-equipped tray can be seen in the copending application of Albert P. Burke, Serial No. 366,371, filed May 11, 1964.

Again, at this point it should be noted that the cohesive nature of the material must sufliciently overcome the adhesive forces of the material with relation to the pocket so that the patty may be dispensed intact. The patty, upon removal, has the identical shape to that im parted by the pocket mold at the time of initial packaging. Further, since the pockets are all aligned, as shown in FIG. 1 (eight rows of five each), simultaneous ejection is facilitated. In some instances, however, individual manual ejection may be utilized. The spacing between the pockets permits the ejection of single patties Without distrurbing adjacent patties. At no time in this process is it necessary for the material to be touched directly by human hands, which, of course, is a most de- 'sirable and sanitary measure when handling soft plastic foods such as butter.

Therefore, it is seen from the foregoing description and from the drawings that I have provided a new and improved method and package for use in molding, carrying, and dispensing soft plastic materials formed into a plurality of relatively small, individual, service units; which may be used to provide a much wider range of surface ornamentations on such materials than was heretofore possible; which may be related to the use of aerated or whipped plastic materials while preserving intact the appetite appeal, density, and appearance of such materials; which includes a method and package which eliminates or minimizes the abrasion between individual servce units in transportation, as well as all weight hearing as between such units, without the necessity of utilizing peripheral supports around each mold pocket; which method and package are particularly adapted for use with non-nesting shapes; which obviates the necessity of direct handling by human hands from time of formation to final use; which permits rapid and facile dispensing whether at point of manufacture or at point of use; and which provides and teaches the use of a single patty sheet to achieve the multiple functions of molding the plastic material, or providing a carrying means for such material, and of providing for facile dispensation.

As mentioned previously, the embossment constitutes at least about 50% of the planar area of the top surface of the butter pat. It is apparent that an embossment could, and in some instances should, cover the entire top surface, especially when a very complex pattern is involved. However, I prefer to have a certain amount of the planar top surface retained in order to separate and bring into better relief various lines of delineation found in most of the designs I use, and therefore prefer to limitthe scope of the embossment to not more than of the top surface. Within this range -I find an advantageous coaction between the film forming the embossment and the butter pat. The thin film (of the order of about 0.002") is reinforced or bolstered by virtue of the embossment. Here, it should be appreciated that the thin film is employed to obtain superior ejection of the pat by reversing the mold. The ejection is achieved without marring the surfaces of the pat. With a thicker film, the corners and sharp edges that are developed from the film crumpling action of reversing would be so stiff and strong that there would be a tendency to mar the butter surfaces. By using a relatively thin film, these sharp edges and corners are sufliciently flexible and yielding so that no surface damage is imparted to the butter.

On the other hand, with this thin film, there is inadequate self-support at the bottom of a pocket using a plain film so thatthere is a tendency to sag under the weight of the butter, particularly when the butter is im-' pacted for leveling. With the feature of the embossment, there is imparted a reinforcement in the nature of ribbing to develop structural strength. The tendency to sag becomes pronounced when the extent of the embossment is less than about 50% of top surface.

The height of the embossment is advantageously be tween 20% and 50% of the thickness of the pat. My present commercial practice utilizes embossments in the range of about 30-40% of the thickness of the pat. Here, I consider the thickness of the pat to be the entire heightfrom the planar bottom to the top of the embossment itself. The actual total thicknesses in my contemporary production range from about to-about with the embossments themselves ranging in thickness from A to 9& Pats utilizing the teaching of the invention may range in total thickness from A to with the embossments ranging from A to A" in thickness.

Good appearance is enhanced if the embossment is thick (deep). On the other hand, there is also required a thickness in the planar base section of the pat. This is particularly important in the smaller or thinner pats which makeup about 80% of the demand of the market (the smaller the pat, the larger number of pats per pound obtainable). By utilizing embossments in the range of 2050% of the total thickness of the pat, I obtain sufficient thickness throughout the entire pat to give a diner a substantial quantity of butter into which to insert his knife. If the pat is too thin at any point, the butter then can only be handled by scraping it rather than knifing it. Further, the recited range of relative thickness gives the pat sufiicient bodily cohesion so that when it is ejected from its mold it does not break apart. I have found that there is always some resistance of the butter to the mold during the ejecting process, and here again the planar base section yields a reliable thickness and thus an amount of cohesion to keep the pat from breaking.

' details herein given may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: 1. A unitary plastic food patty having dimensions which avoid breakage, said patty being constructed of a member selected from the class consisting of butter and margarine and having the shape generally of a rectangular solid wherein the base dimensions are within the range of about to about 1 /2 and the height dimension is in the range of about A" to about respectively, said patty having a top surface extending generally parallel to the base thereof, and an upstanding ornamentation of said plastic food constituting an integral part of said top surface, said ornamentation extending over at least about of said top surface and constituting from about 20% to about 50% of the total height of the patty.

2. In combination, a thin'fiexible film sheet equipped with a plurality of mold pockets outstanding in the same direction from said sheet for receipt of a plastic food material, said plastic food material being a member selected from the class consisting of butter and mar-' garine, said plastic food material in each of said pockets and having a generally planar face at the pocket to-p, each of said pockets being reversible so as to eject said food material without marring its surface and having the shape of a rectangular solid having dimensions which avoid breakage upon removal of the solid from its as sociated pocket, each of said pockets including outstanding sidewalls and a bottom wall, the planar face of each pocket having a length'in the range of about /4" to about 1 /2 and the depth of each pocket being of the order of A" to about said bottom wall being equipped with a configuration toimpart an integral basrelief on the surface of said food material confronting said bottom wall, said configuration constituting from about 50% to about of said bottom wall and constituting from about 20% to about 50% of the total depth of each pocket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Tupper 99-171 A. LOUI S MONACELL, Primary Examiner. M. W. GREENSTEIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A UNITARY PLASTIC FOOD PATTY HAVING DIMENSIONS WHICH AVOID BREAKAGE, SAID PATTY BEING CONSTRUCTED OF A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF BUTTER AND MARGARINE AND HAVING THE SHAPE GENERALLY OF A RECTANGULAR SOLID WHEREIN THE BASE DIMENSIONS ARE WITHIN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 3/4" TO ABOUT 1 1/2" AND THE HEIGHT DIMENSION IS IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 1/4" TO ABOUT 3/4" RESPECTIVELY, SAID PATTY HAVING A TOP SURFACE EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE BASE THEREOF, AND AN UPSTANDING ORNAMENTATION OF SAID PLASTIC FOOD CONSTITUTING AN INTEGRAL PART OF SAID TOP SURFACE, SAID ORNAMENTATION EXTENDING OVER AT LEAST ABOUT 50% OF SAID TOP SURFACE AND CONSTITUTING FROM ABOUT 20% TO ABOUT 50% OF THE TOTAL HEIGHT OF THE PATTY. 